Grey’s Anatomy stars Jessica Capshaw and Camilla Luddington formed a close friendship beyond Grey Sloan Memorial. That natural chemistry can be heard on their podcast iHeartRadio’s Call It What It Is.
Capshaw played the trailblazing Dr. Arizona Robbins for 10 seasons before stepping away from the popular hospital drama after Season 14. She returned for an episode in Season 20 earlier this year. Luddington was introduced on the show as Dr. Josephine “Jo” Wilson during Season 9 in 2012. Over more than 250 episodes later, her character has since moved up the ladder from intern to OB/GYN resident.
The besties take their respective experiences to the podcast, satisfying fans of the Shonda Rhimes hit. It’s where they banter about life lessons learned, toxic friendships, parental stress, what gives them the “ick” and more topics. Episodes also see the personable hosts bring in guests including Theresa Caputo, Sarah Drew, Julianne Hough, Geena Davis, and Mandy Moore.
Here the ladies chat about their bond and experience having a platform to talk to their audience in an intimate way.
Camilla Luddington as Josephine Wilson. (Disney/Nino Muñoz)
What was the moment you knew you had a lasting friendship?
Jessica Capshaw: I think for any friendships that are truly going to last there are a couple of different moments. I think there was a string of them starting with the spark. We didn’t immediately click. Once we did, we were truly off to the races. We have such a similar sense of humor. I think we are heart forward and put our all into things. I think we’re really hard workers, so we had a cross-section of all these things. Then through the humor, it grew and grew. It was time and different circumstances. A lot of times when you leave a workplace, you can lose a friendship. I left the workplace, and we still remained friends. A lot of times if you move out of state, you can lose a friendship. I moved out of state, and we maintained a friendship.
Camilla Luddington: There were obstacles, but we’re stuck with each other like glue.
Jessica, you touched on your exit from Grey’s. Would you say you may have leaned on Camilla during that transition period?
Jessica: For sure, absolutely. Both of us had been on the show for so long. Now she has been on the show longer than I’d been on the show. There is a transition not being on the show…In a decade the business of making shows and films has changed so much. When I came out of Grey’s, I definitely needed to take a minute. There is an initial feeling of wanting to be a doer and go straight into something else. Those opportunities were there at that moment.
I definitely called her about this stuff. Do you go into this new thing where there is a huge amount of responsibility when you have just finished 10 years on something? Was I ready to do that? In that case, I wasn’t. Then what do you do? There are instances then where actors and actresses are asked to come up with their own material, produce material, and develop it. Did I want to do that? So many things and directions to go in. Adding to that, I’m the mother of four children. A lot happening at home. Then we got thrown into a pandemic. There were so many moments we relied on each other.
Camilla: We get to be each other’s sounding boards. That’s what I love about our friendship. We’re going to be so real. That raw honesty with each other and no judgment with it is great. It could be about her leaving the show or the pandemic. We have leaned on each other through all these moments.
Jessica: Meeting each other where we’re at because we’re not programmed the same way is another thing. I remember during the pandemic when it was very hard for you to get your hands on the KN95 masks. That wasn’t where I was putting my anxiety and worry. Camilla was like, “I need one.”
Camilla: I was pregnant.
Jessica: I could tell her that everything is going to be okay, but knowing it‘s worrying her, I found a way to find a mask for her. There was a mask transfer right off the freeway. Find yourself a friend who will find you a mask in a pandemic.
Do you look at Grey’s differently as you get these Q&As from fans on your show? Does it give you a renewed appreciation for the show’s impact?
Jessica: There is a renewed appreciation. I think we always have that appreciation because we walk around in bodies that are a lot like our characters. I think hearing people and for them to have the space to send in questions, anonymously or with their names, and ask questions they may not otherwise be able to get answered. Then it leads to other themes going on in our lives. I think it’s a very satisfying experience.
Camilla: I think it’s a direct line for fans. That’s what it feels like. We hear directly from them. Then after all these years, we still get asked new questions. Like something we’ve never been asked before.
Any question in particular you can mention?
Camilla: It was something random. What would be our characters’ karaoke song?
Jessica: What kitchen appliance would you be?
Camilla: I was like, “That’s a great question! And we had very definitive answers!” I was a greasy pan, and she was an expresso machine. It makes sense.
Disney/Anne Marie Fox
The podcast provides you two with a safe space to open up. We saw that when you spoke about the Anatomy of Lies docuseries centering on former Grey’s writer and former EP Elisabeth Finch. I’m sure that wasn’t easy.
Camilla: I think that is what it is. We get to sit down in a safe space where I know my words aren’t going to be misconstrued. You’re hearing it from me. I’m also sharing with my best friend my experience. She understands the experience. I wasn’t even going to comment on it at all. That story broke a while before the documentary. I think it was jarring to see the first episode and how much I was in it. Then we both got requests to comment on it. I felt like I wanted to have my own voice back a little bit because I felt like I was watching my own stories being told with this person a little bit. So, it was a way for us to say what we felt comfortable saying and not hold tight to our chest. Then hopefully we put it to bed.
Your first guest on the podcast was Mandy Moore. Grey’s is a show that has been on so long, that many may forget who appeared on it over the years. How was it visiting with her?
Jessica: This was either how nervous I was or what a new-to-the-podcasting space kind of gal I am. I completely blocked out that I was in the episode Mandy Moore was in.
Camilla: And it was one of my favorite episodes! Jess was like, “You were on the show before I was on the show.” Then all of the fans were saying, “Actually, you had been on it for like a year.”
Jessica: You have even told me the storyline.
Camilla: It happens. That’s what I love about our show and all the guest stars. We’ve already had Skylar [Astin] on, Geena Davis on. We’re going to talk to Sophia Bush later today. I feel like our show brings in all these incredible people who get to be part of our world. Then we get to hopefully have them on the podcast. It felt liek a very organic first guest.
Jessica: Plus, she is so lovely. We heard that from people. It was a great match of energies.
You had Long Island Medium star Theresa Caputo on the show. That took a turn for you Camilla, getting pretty emotional [talking about your late mother]. How was it having her on the show?
Camilla: She was on my original list of dream guests because I’d never talked to a psychic before. We finally got her on in a spooky month no less. We went into it saying, “You don’t have to give us a reading. We want to just know about your gift.” Then what happens, and everyone needs to tune into that episode, halfway through was unexpected. Jess and I would say that was one of the episodes where we were shell-shocked for a little bit.
Jessica: Yes, we had a lot of follow-up calls after that. We were like, did that happen? What were you thinking? It was wild. Go listen to the episode.
JESSICA CAPSHAW, CAMILLA LUDDINGTON (Richard Cartwright/ABC)
Did you have a guest that surprised you?
Camilla: I just love how our guests come in to be very open and vulnerable. That’s what we try to do when we sit down to record. We want everyone to feel like they are listening to a real conversation between us, which they are. We have gotten vulnerable, and they come in. There is some sort of magic to it.
Jessica: I think Julianne Hough was very open. I’m a huge fan of Dancing with the Stars. I watch it with my girls. Asking her about that at the start of the season and having her be so open about the different contestants was super fun. Sarah Drew was on, and she is like family. Having her on the show and being so game. The podcast world is very different than the acting world. As actors, you’re speaking other people’s words and fitting yourself into that story. You’re creating a character that has been written already.
In the podcast space, you’re the writers, performers, and editors. You’re doing it all. That is very freeing. The whole thing is your perspective and point of view. We talk about some really tough stuff, but our intentions have always been to spread joy and inclusion and make people feel welcome. Maybe there are people who don’t have a friend they can’t connect with like we do. We want them there. Maybe they do, but they can’t get on the phone or live far away. We want them there too. It’s a come one, come all space. It has been a pleasure having people listen and hear what they are thinking.
Have you gotten feedback about the podcast from your Grey’s colleagues?
Camilla: Yes! In fact our showrunner Meg [Marinis] listens all the time. In fact, she told me one of the speeches she wrote in this season was influenced by one of the conversations we had on the show. When our showrunner is listening, that’s good.
Who stands out to you who has revealed themselves as Grey’s fans? Beanie [Feldstein] comes to mind.
Jessica: Yes! Beanie.
Camiilla: Her episode is surprising for lots of reasons. It’s definitely worth a listen. She shares it all with us. I was completely blown away that her mother let her stay home from school the day after George died!
Jessica: Yes! I loved that. That is true fan behavior.
I think you mentioned Taylor Swift as a bucket list guest before. Who else do you want to get to come on to the podcast?
Jessica; Taylor is one. There are so many. The way it worked is in the beginning we were getting our legs and understanding what we were doing. A lot of our guests are people out on the town promoting their work or availability. A lot of people are in the middle of filming and can or can’t during their lunch break. We don’t have some grand list. It’s more there is availability if you can make it work. I have been equally excited by each of our guests. For instance, Camila has watched Theresa’s show. I had not, so I was more along for the ride. I was gobsmacked and totally in. I drove the sex toy episode, so I found that person to come on. My sister found her. So yeah I jumped right on that because we are ready for anything.
Jessica, I know you came back to Grey’s Anatomy for an episode, but do you see yourselves working together onscreen? What does that look like?
Camilla: Yes! I’d say we need a Bridesmaids-esque comedy.
Jessica: We’ve got a couple of pitches we’re working on. We’re developing it. We’ve got some big ideas. Hollywood, write it.
